When it comes to great popiah and tze char in Singapore, Good Chance Popiah is no doubt a restaurant that many of us have heard of. Founded in 1997 by Mr. Hou Shen Hu, a Long Xi, Fujian native, the brand is now helmed by its third-generation owner.

Working with an heirloom recipe that’s been passed down the generations, Ah Boy has been involved in the family business since he was a child, going on to obtain his Diploma in Culinary Arts from SHATEC. Today, he still personally goes to the wet market every morning to get the freshest ingredients he can find!
Food at Good Chance Popiah
What’s special about Good Chance Popiah is that they bring back the joy of wrapping your own popiah yourself, as well as the bonding and interaction it creates with fellow diners. Not to mention, you get to include more of your favourite ingredients and sauces in the proportions you desire!

Served in a claypot, there are more than seven ingredients that go into Good Chance Popiah’s fillings. This includes cabbage, carrot, long beans, bamboo shoots, garlic and shrimp! Alongside are condiments such as ribbons of omelette, beansprouts, lettuce, coriander, chopped peanuts, sweet soy sauce, garlic and chilli paste. The restaurant no longer makes its own popiah skin but outsources them to Kway Guan Huat, the famous heritage popiah stall in Joo Chiat. You can also add on ingredients such as Chinese sausages, crab meat and prawns at an additional cost!

The popiah rolls offer a rich combination of flavours and textures wrapped in a soft chewy skin. You will surely be impressed by the well-braised filling that gives the popiah a sweet and savoury flavour! The DIY Popiah Set starts from S$26 for six.
Apart from popiah, the restaurant also serves a variety of tze char dishes.

Threadfin Head and Yam Soup (from S$24.80) might sound like a weird combination, but one sip of the soup and all your scepticism will be swept away. Yam is a favourite ingredient in Hokkien households, and the addition of napa cabbage adds to the soup’s sweetness. This is a unique recipe and you’ll be hard-pressed to come across any other eateries serving the same item!

Love salted egg and seafood? Then how about having a plate of Salted Egg Crayfish (from S$58)? Huge and juicy crayfish meat is coated with a crispy thin layer of batter and salted egg yolk sauce. They meld together beautifully, with sweet-savoury rich flavours coming together. Some eateries use salted egg powder nowadays to replace real salted egg in order to reduce costs, but Ah Boy still insists on doing it the traditional (and right) way.

Another must-have when you are in a Hokkien restaurant is the Stewed Pork with Steamed Buns aka Kong Ba Pao. Ah Boy uses fresh Indonesian pork belly to make his braised pork, and slices of fried yam are also added into the braised pork which is something you don’t find anywhere else! The meat is braised for long hours to create that melt-in-your-mouth texture and each piece of meat has a good proportion of lean meat to fat, creating a bite that is deeply satisfying. You’ll also notice that the pao comes in the unique yellow, and that’s because pumpkin puree has been added to it. This is done more for the colour than the flavour, so you can rest assured that it will taste exactly like the regular pao you know and love!

If you’re craving for some fried dishes, a must-try is their Special Tofu. Why is it special? Ah Boy revealed that the soft tofu is dipped into a turnip gravy and egg mixture before it is deep fried to a perfect golden brown. The result is a crisp on the outside, soft on the inside tofu that is much more flavourful than usual!

Other items include the Prawn Paste Chicken which is made with fresh chicken (not frozen) which is bought fresh from the market daily. Only thigh meat is used here, so they are extra juicy! The skin is crispy and ASMR-worthy with an obvious shrimp paste flavour, though some may prefer it to be heavier-tasting. If you can’t get enough, you can get both the Special Tofu and Prawn Paste Chicken with Hae Zhor (prawn rolls) in a Fried Mixed Platter!

And of course, at a Hokkien restaurant, how can you miss out on their Hokkien Mee? But don’t expect the version that you’d usually find at hawker centres, here at Good Chance Popiah their Hokkien Mee is similar to the Malaysian style which comes in a dark soy sauce base. Cooked with thick udon-like noodles, the dish is flavourful and slurp-worthy!
While it may not be the ideal spot for a first date, Good Chance Popiah is a stellar option for family gatherings and meals with friends and colleagues. With its well-executed DIY popiah and tze char dishes, you will definitely be satisfied here. Just take a look at its wall which is plastered with images of various celebrities that agree with us!
Address: 149 Silat Ave, #01-58, Singapore 160149
Opening Hours: 11 am–2:30 pm, 5:30–9:30 pm Tues to Sun
Comments